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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “disabler”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “disabler”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 3 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

GN Toggle and Accordion Animation Disabler shows at wp.org #5 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 398 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

How this rank is calculated

Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.

A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.

A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.

Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #3 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 2 Assets manager, dequeue scripts, dequeue styles for WordPress 2K+ · 4.3★ (53) wp.org #2 3 Disabler 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 4 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (398) wp.org #14 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 10 places below merit 5 Parsi Date | بسته فارسی ساز وردپرس و ووکامرس پارسی دیت 100K+ · 4.6★ (131) wp.org #13 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 8 places below merit 6 Meks Quick Plugin Disabler 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 7 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (158) wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 8 Blocksy Companion 300K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #18 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 10 places below merit 9 RCD-Right Click Disabler 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #16 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 7 places below merit 10 Disable Customizer 400+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 11 GN Toggle and Accordion Animation Disabler 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 12 Advanced Search Disabler — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 13 Quick Disabler — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 14 Block Editor Disabler — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 15 Wp Disabler 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 16 ProfileGuard – Anti Spam for LMS Profiles — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 17 AccessWise – Power to restrict your website and it's content — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 18 PB4Host Security — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 19 Complete Admin Suite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 20 Simple XML-RPC Disabler 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 21 Commenti – Disable & Remove Comments, Stop Spam [Multi-Site Support] — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 22 Simple XML-RPC Pingback Disabler 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Smart Language Select Disabler for Polylang 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 24 Plugin Disabler 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.